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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Team up with other volunteers across the state to search for starry stonewort and other invasive species by participating in Starry Trek on August 5th

Get outdoors and make a difference in the health of your area lakes this summer. Join us on Saturday, August 5, 2017, for Starry Trek, a multi-state search for starry stonewort and other invaders.

Image: Starry stonewort (credit: Dave Hansen)

Starry stonewort is an invasive algae that was first found in Lake Koronis in 2015 and has since spread to nine Minnesota lakes. Now, you can help search other lakes across the state to help understand its distribution in Minnesota.

No experience or equipment is necessary to participate in Starry Trek. You’ll receive expert training on monitoring protocols and starry stonewort identification on-site when you arrive. You won’t have to travel far, either: Starry Trek will be held at numerous sites across the state. Check out the registration page to see the list of rendezvous sites and one near you.

Volunteers will meet at their chosen rendezvous site, where they will be trained and sent to monitoring locations nearby to search. At the end of the day, you’ll return to your rendezvous site to report your findings.

Wisconsinites can join too! We’re coordinating with Snapshot Day, a similar event held on the same day. Click here to learn more about participating in Wisconsin.

It’s free to participate, and registration is requested by July 28.

Participating in Starry Trek is an easy, rewarding way to help protect your local lakes and inform ongoing research at the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC). If you’d like to learn more about starry stonewort, its impacts and the research happening at MAISRC, you can visit this page.